Benefits of meditation and yoga for school students

Over the last few years, yoga and meditation has gained popularity not only within India, but in the West as well. Numerous studies have been conducted to understand the effect of these activities on the human body and mind. It has been observed by many that even half an hour of yoga and 10 to 15 mins of meditation per day can have a drastic effect on our overall well-being.

As such, more and more parents and teachers are encouraging young children to get involved in practising yoga and meditation regularly, to help them deal with the challenges that childhood and teen-age can pose. Here are some physical, mental and emotional benefits of yoga and meditation for students: 

Physical benefits

• Yoga is an excellent form of exercise and it can greatly help control weight gain or obesity in students, especially during their years of puberty, when bodily changes are in full swing. 
• Yoga is also well known to increase flexibility, strength and balance of the body. Regular practice of yoga can help tone and strengthen core muscles which will lead to an overall better health.
• Yoga Asanas, when done properly, also have an effect on other bodily functions such as blood pressure, digestion and other such processes. 
• Regula meditation helps in making the respiratory system stronger and increasing lung capacity. It increases oxygen in the blood flow and helps with breathing or respiratory issues too. 
• Meditation can also help students sleep better and more deeply, thus getting a good amount of rest needed in that pivotal age. 
• Miscellaneous or psychosomatic issues like chronic headaches, bad immunity, migraines, bodyache, etc. can also be cured to a large extent with a combination of yoga and meditation.  

Mental benefits

• Even a short amount of meditation everyday has been known to improve various aspects of cognition in students as well as adults. Meditation can help students concentrate better and focus to the best of their ability in any given moment. 
• Meditation has also been known to increase quickness and sharpness of the brain, especially in growing children. This means that their problem solving and logical reasoning skills will benefit greatly. 
• Yoga also affects stress and anxiety issues, and helps students calm their minds. Through regular yoga, they can centre themselves and this clears their head of any unnecessary burdens and worries. 
• Yoga and meditation have also been linked to a reduction in mental health issues. Students are less likely to experience anxiety or depression or thoughts of self-harm or any other mental disorders that could occur at that age. 

Emotional benefits

• Yoga and meditation has a marked effect on a person’s emotional well-being. When their physical and mental health are flourishing, their emotional health is bound to become better too. 
• The calming effect of yoga and meditation brings stability into a child’s life and therefore can rein in emotional outbursts or sudden mood swings, which are common in teenagers. 
• Through breathing techniques that they learn in meditation, students can also learn to identify and regulate their feelings and emotions during turbulent times, thus ensuring that they deal with conflict and challenges in a healthy way. 
• Interpersonal relationships i.e. relationships with friends and family get smoother and healthier due to practice of yoga and meditation. This is because students have a firm grasp on their own emotions and are able to handle those of others easily too. 
• Regular yoga and meditation also helps build a child’s confidence. Their self esteem and self worth goes up and they start to carry themselves with a positive, can-do attitude. 
• The overall changes that yoga and meditation bring into one’s life also leads to an increase in overall happiness and contentment. Students are less likely to feel overwhelmed or negative or fall into bad moods. 

At Vidyanchal High School, we believe in the holistic growth of a child. We look beyond the academic curriculum and strive to strengthen our students minds and bodies for all aspects of life. We encourage our students to practise yoga and meditation to help them deal with the stresses of these formative years in school. For us, the physical, emotional and mental well-being of children is as important as their academic achievements.